While smartwatches remain the most popular wearable for many, the popularity of tracking rings like Oura is growing at a remarkable pace oura's latest move, called Labs, allows users to try out experimental features before they are ready for the masses They allow users to try out experimental features before they are ready for the masses

This development comes at an interesting time, with Samsung's Galaxy Ring expected to launch this summer In short, it is clear that Oura is trying to stay one step ahead of the competition: the Galaxy Ring is said to offer fitness and sleep tracking, a nine-day battery life versus the Oura Ring's seven days, and even control other smart home devices It is said to be able to control other smart home devices

Symptom Radar is the first feature to be included in Oura Labs for iOS users; Oura users can report back to the company's team of researchers to learn how the experimental feature works and be part of the development process

According to Oura's blog post, the first major feature that users can test is called "Symptom Radar" This feature is designed to track significant changes in certain key biometric measurements in order to find changes over time that may point to a problem

As for what is tracked, according to Aura, the symptom radar monitors body temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability Based on historical data, if things start to go wrong, Oura notifies the user with a "Readiness Score" in the home view

"The Symptom Radar provides the ability to better understand and detect changes in biometric signals and trends that may place additional strain on the body It monitors significant changes in several biometric trends, including temperature range, respiration rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability," the blog post states

Of course, it should be noted that this is still a fitness wearable and Symptom Radar does not play a diagnostic role Instead, it is designed to inform you that something may be wrong and encourage you to see a doctor for an actual diagnosis

Again, this feature is available through Oura Labs and is not available on your device by default To try it out, you will need to join the Labs and enable it Symptom Radar should not be used as a diagnostic tool, but rather as a way to help you better understand your body's signals Always listen to your body first and seek medical attention for any symptoms that concern you," the company notes

This new feature is only available for active members of iOS and Gen3 if you have an iOS device and an Oura ring, here is what you need to enable Labs:

That's it once Labs is enabled, from the Labs screen Tap Give Feedback to let the Oura team know what you think of the new feature and whether it should be implemented in Oura's main functionality